Democrats tap Obama donor network for OFA, Senate races

Julianna Smoot was there from the very beginning of Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign, giving the Illinois senator a simple, yet daunting assignment: call a list of donors and convince them to pitch in as much as they could to a campaign expected to eventually lose to Hillary Clinton.

Those donor lists over the years developed into a sprawling network of bundlers, which helped Obama shatter fundraising records twice, raising $880 million in 2008 and more than $ 1 billion in 2012.

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Now, Smoot hopes to tap that Obama donor network for two separate causes: the new Organizing for Action nonprofit group and Senate Majority PAC, the Democratic super PAC tied to Majority Leader Harry Reid.

OFA is the offshoot of Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign that has pledged to be non-partisan but is controlling Obama’s Twitter account and advocating for White House priorities including gun control and immigration.

Other former Obama campaign and White House veterans are also working for OFA, but group officials — and Obama — have repeatedly said the new group’s mission is clear and distinct from electoral politics because it’s organized around issues.

“OFA is organized around issues rather than 2014,” Obama told House Republicans at a meeting last month.

Smoot said she sees no problem with doing both jobs.

“I’m passionate about both groups. I’m a Democrat, so I want to make sure Democrats keep the majority in the Senate,” she said in a wide-ranging interview.

“And with [OFA], I want to help in ways that don’t conflict,” she said. “I feel very strongly about both of them.”

Smoot’s transition from the presidential campaign to two outside groups reflects the Democrats’ reluctant embrace of the kind of big money groups they railed against post-Citizens United and other court decisions in recent years.

“Look, all of us would like to see less money in politics,” she said. “But we’re going to have to make sure Democrats can compete.”

Smoot acknowledged that OFA hasn’t had a smooth ride since its inception, saying criticism that the organization was selling access to the White House was totally overblown.

“This is just different from anything that’s happened after a president’s re-election so people were like, ‘Wait, what’s happening? “This is a way to keep the phenomenal grassroots network we created during the campaign, and you’ll see the success of OFA,” Smoot said.

In addition to serving on the OFA board and Senate Majority PACs board for outreach and fundraising, she is considering opening open up her own consulting firm.

And rather than handing out the donor lists, she’s the one making the calls this time.

“It’s interesting that someone else is doing the day-to-day work,” Smoot said. “They’ll tell me, ‘Can you please call these donors?’ And now I’m the one getting the assignments.”

One of the biggest financial backers of Obama’s first presidential run, Chicago business executive, Penny Pritzker, worked closely with Smoot when the campaign was just getting off the ground. She described Smoot as a a “talent magnet” and an “incredible force” in an email to POLITICO.

“Julianna is an accomplished manager, leader and effective team player. Her knowledge base is broad and deep which makes her an asset to any organization with which she is involved,” said Pritzker, considered the front-runner to be Obama’s next Commerce Secretary nominee.